UPDATE:
After showing The Princess Bride, many of the boys now only answer me with "As you wish."
Example: "Good morning gentlemen! Have a wonderful holiday!" "As you wish."
Can't decide if it's cute or creepy. I'll have to reevaluate after the holiday.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
End of Exams!
Tuesday was the last day of tests for the term!! That evening, we had a movie night--the LRC's and I had our wires crossed, though, so we each brought a movie to the hall. So we watched both. Whatever, we were there til 9:40. We watched John Carter (dumb), then THE PRINCESS BRIDE! Hilarious! They loved it. Even though it was hard to follow for them. They were cheering super loud during Inigo Montoya's big duel at the end! And every time Fred Savage interrupted they laughed a lot. One thing about watching movies with these kids is that they don't hold back with their laughing and cheering. It's really exciting to watch movies with them.
Yesterday I got to be with the learners all day, after two weeks of them being ... sequestered in their classrooms, studying and testing. The grade 8's and I had rehearsals for their plays in the morning.While I was with the grade 8's, another teacher was supposed to be planning a debate with the grade 11s, but she was ill, so the LRCs (the student council) played music videos in the dining hall for them. Before lunch, we watched a movie. During the moments of my downtime in the morning, I finished up entering their grades into the computer program, and got questions from all of the teachers for a quiz in the afternoon, to replace the debate.
After lunch, I played Karaoke Bob, and we had a trivia contest between all the classes (because "they couldn't handle a day without a test! I'll ween you off of them slowly"). It was pretty fun, I think, even though initially, the three participants from each class were very reluctant to get on stage. They actually did quite well once they were there! We had a lot of fun. And I lost my voice reading the questions. It turned out well for being thrown together in 2 hours. The only thing is that we should have had desks for the teams to stand at for the final round. The first two rounds were set up like Rulloff's trivia rounds--8 questions and they answer the questions in their books, then their answers were tallied. One class was knocked out each round. The final round was between the two classes still standing in each grade. Three strikes and out. 8D won, and 11C and 11D ran out of questions, so we declared it a tie and went to dinner.
After dinner, the LRC's again had their wires crossed with mine, and they were making a list of kwaito performers (I will get a video of that next term--they are super good and dancing!), when I was planning to only have grade 8 dramas and songs that they had been preparing for art class. But it all turned out for the best, and we blended the two lists together.
Class 8B performed a hilarious, yet quite classy drama about HIV. They practiced a lot together as a class, and they were seriously impressive. Seriously. So good! 8D's drama hit the fan earlier that day, so they only had to perform 1 song, and even that was pretty embarrassing for them. I was actually really glad they felt embarrassed by it, because they got to see what it looked like when 30 people worked together and what happened when they didn't. 8C almost had the same thing happen, and were on the verge of being embarrassed in the morning, but I gave them a talking to. I told them that even though some people had put in a lot of hard work into the drama, they wouldn't be able to do it. So they should just sing songs. Instead of backing off, though, they pulled a complete 180 and got a whole new drama written, rehearsed and costumed/propped in the morning. It was pretty excellent! Their acting was much quieter, but it was still impressive! I was really, really proud of them for working together when they were down to the wire. 8A closed the program with 4 great songs and dances about HIV.
The rest of the evening, between the grade 8 performances and after the official end, we had boys (and one girl!) dancing kwaito. I let them just dance for a while, and right when all hell was about to break loose and every learner wanted a chance to get on the stage, I sent them home for the night. Things wrapped up around 21h10 (9:10pm) with a less than stellar performance from the LRCs. Everyone went home happy. I quickly edited one class's report cards, adding their grade ranking to the report and passed out for the night.
That is the kind of day I love. Busy, fun, and filled with learners. I had missed them so much during testing, and everything about me showed it. But after a day like that, I'm back, baby! A great and uplifting way to end the term.
And next week, all of the WorldTeachers are headed back to Windhoek, and then a bunch of us are travelling all over!! Exciting! All the way up to Lake Malawi by way of the Kavango River Delta and Great Zimbabwe, and back by way of Vic Falls! Should be a fun and relaxing break!
Yesterday I got to be with the learners all day, after two weeks of them being ... sequestered in their classrooms, studying and testing. The grade 8's and I had rehearsals for their plays in the morning.While I was with the grade 8's, another teacher was supposed to be planning a debate with the grade 11s, but she was ill, so the LRCs (the student council) played music videos in the dining hall for them. Before lunch, we watched a movie. During the moments of my downtime in the morning, I finished up entering their grades into the computer program, and got questions from all of the teachers for a quiz in the afternoon, to replace the debate.
After lunch, I played Karaoke Bob, and we had a trivia contest between all the classes (because "they couldn't handle a day without a test! I'll ween you off of them slowly"). It was pretty fun, I think, even though initially, the three participants from each class were very reluctant to get on stage. They actually did quite well once they were there! We had a lot of fun. And I lost my voice reading the questions. It turned out well for being thrown together in 2 hours. The only thing is that we should have had desks for the teams to stand at for the final round. The first two rounds were set up like Rulloff's trivia rounds--8 questions and they answer the questions in their books, then their answers were tallied. One class was knocked out each round. The final round was between the two classes still standing in each grade. Three strikes and out. 8D won, and 11C and 11D ran out of questions, so we declared it a tie and went to dinner.
After dinner, the LRC's again had their wires crossed with mine, and they were making a list of kwaito performers (I will get a video of that next term--they are super good and dancing!), when I was planning to only have grade 8 dramas and songs that they had been preparing for art class. But it all turned out for the best, and we blended the two lists together.
Class 8B performed a hilarious, yet quite classy drama about HIV. They practiced a lot together as a class, and they were seriously impressive. Seriously. So good! 8D's drama hit the fan earlier that day, so they only had to perform 1 song, and even that was pretty embarrassing for them. I was actually really glad they felt embarrassed by it, because they got to see what it looked like when 30 people worked together and what happened when they didn't. 8C almost had the same thing happen, and were on the verge of being embarrassed in the morning, but I gave them a talking to. I told them that even though some people had put in a lot of hard work into the drama, they wouldn't be able to do it. So they should just sing songs. Instead of backing off, though, they pulled a complete 180 and got a whole new drama written, rehearsed and costumed/propped in the morning. It was pretty excellent! Their acting was much quieter, but it was still impressive! I was really, really proud of them for working together when they were down to the wire. 8A closed the program with 4 great songs and dances about HIV.
The rest of the evening, between the grade 8 performances and after the official end, we had boys (and one girl!) dancing kwaito. I let them just dance for a while, and right when all hell was about to break loose and every learner wanted a chance to get on the stage, I sent them home for the night. Things wrapped up around 21h10 (9:10pm) with a less than stellar performance from the LRCs. Everyone went home happy. I quickly edited one class's report cards, adding their grade ranking to the report and passed out for the night.
That is the kind of day I love. Busy, fun, and filled with learners. I had missed them so much during testing, and everything about me showed it. But after a day like that, I'm back, baby! A great and uplifting way to end the term.
And next week, all of the WorldTeachers are headed back to Windhoek, and then a bunch of us are travelling all over!! Exciting! All the way up to Lake Malawi by way of the Kavango River Delta and Great Zimbabwe, and back by way of Vic Falls! Should be a fun and relaxing break!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Centralization
A glimpse at a detail of a centralized government, which has total control over the education over the whole country:
We are currently in two weeks of exams. Over the past month, we've had many representatives from the Central Office here to evaluate and support us, as we are a new school. They have given some valuable advice and suggestions as well as support in getting the things we need to run a successful school, as well as feedback which was unnecessary or overbearing or even rude.
One of the pieces of feedback I received from the subject adviser for the computers classes I am teaching was about my grading. I need to make check marks for each correct answer on the page. A large 'C' over matching or true-false sections is not good. Making +2 next to an answer worth two points is not good. I must make checks. That is the way it is done. Period. No other marking strategies are allowed in Namibia.
Could this particular issue matter any less? Yet is the ONLY piece of direct feedback on my teaching I have received. I
Welcome to centralized government, ladies and gents.
We are currently in two weeks of exams. Over the past month, we've had many representatives from the Central Office here to evaluate and support us, as we are a new school. They have given some valuable advice and suggestions as well as support in getting the things we need to run a successful school, as well as feedback which was unnecessary or overbearing or even rude.
One of the pieces of feedback I received from the subject adviser for the computers classes I am teaching was about my grading. I need to make check marks for each correct answer on the page. A large 'C' over matching or true-false sections is not good. Making +2 next to an answer worth two points is not good. I must make checks. That is the way it is done. Period. No other marking strategies are allowed in Namibia.
Could this particular issue matter any less? Yet is the ONLY piece of direct feedback on my teaching I have received. I
Welcome to centralized government, ladies and gents.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Dream Jobs
On paper, this should be my dream job. In reality, however, I dread going to school most mornings, I'm mentally exhausted, in a negative way, all the time, and I get pissier and pissier as the weeks go by.
It should be my dream job. I have started teaching content I am passionate about, I deliver first aid to learners, I am on the front line of counseling staff, and I've been asked to lead staff development workshops across many areas. Technically, these are all of the things I dream about doing. And the kids are amazing. They are smart, dedicated and developing.
I toyed with the idea of extending for a whole extra year. But professionally, that's a poor choice. Communication breaks down every other second. There is not a lot of freedom in any of my teaching, since I'm co-teaching both ICT and Life Skills, and I report to the other teacher. There is a definitive lack of personal space both in my flat and at school. I don't have my own desk. I sometimes get my own chair, but until last week, I perched on a corner on top of a stack of books in the staff room. Men are demeaning. Not about big stuff, but they definitely expect women to wait on them. I am constantly pulled away from teaching and other things I love doing by bureaucratic nonsense at the last minute.
I want this job in a place where the community is so strong and supportive that the staff finish each others' sentences, even when they disagree with each other.
It should be my dream job. I have started teaching content I am passionate about, I deliver first aid to learners, I am on the front line of counseling staff, and I've been asked to lead staff development workshops across many areas. Technically, these are all of the things I dream about doing. And the kids are amazing. They are smart, dedicated and developing.
I toyed with the idea of extending for a whole extra year. But professionally, that's a poor choice. Communication breaks down every other second. There is not a lot of freedom in any of my teaching, since I'm co-teaching both ICT and Life Skills, and I report to the other teacher. There is a definitive lack of personal space both in my flat and at school. I don't have my own desk. I sometimes get my own chair, but until last week, I perched on a corner on top of a stack of books in the staff room. Men are demeaning. Not about big stuff, but they definitely expect women to wait on them. I am constantly pulled away from teaching and other things I love doing by bureaucratic nonsense at the last minute.
I want this job in a place where the community is so strong and supportive that the staff finish each others' sentences, even when they disagree with each other.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Easter Touring
This weekend was a holiday weekend. For a school where children don't leave, this was an interesting prospect. Which teachers would have to stay with the learners? Which teachers would be allowed to leave? What would the children do while all of their friends are at home celebrating?
To help with most of these questions on Friday and Saturday, at least, the Ministry approved our request for buses, and we toured around the Divundu area. The Grade 8 learners and 5 teachers went out on Friday, and the Grade 11 learners and 5 different teachers went on Saturday. So these two days have something for the learners to do, and an insurance that teachers will be around. Perfect! Problems solved!
And it was a lot of fun! Outside of the afternoon that agriculture students spent at a farm across the river, this was the first time that learners left all term.
I went with the Grade 11s on their tour around.
First, we went to the Mahangu Game Park, which is about 10 km down the road towards Botswana. We saw lots of wildlife! Antelopes, kudu, springbok, water buffalo, one zebra, tons of birds, warthogs and moneys!
The kids were very excited, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see a lion. The grade 8s saw two lions. But apparently, it's very rare there. The woman we spoke to at the park said she has only seen a lion 3 times in her 14 years working there!
Next on our stop was the Botswana border! We briefly left Namibia, and crossed in Bots for a few minutes, to speak to the customs officials and take lots of pictures at the border. These kids LOVE getting their pictures taken!
Once back in Namibia, we went to the Ministry of Fisheries ponds and tanks. The whole facility reminded me of the fisheries which I think might be near Powder Mill Park. For some reason, I have those two places associated in my head. The facilities also have tanks of pretty fish!
Again, the learners wanted their pictures taken.
The last stop before lunch was a beautiful youth center near the Andara Hospital. It has a training facility for Information, Communication Technologies jobs, and it right on the river. Junior was getting clingy and starting to get tired, but he hid it well!
We went back to school for lunch, then it was back on the road. We traveled to an army base from the time of colonization (1980s) which hasn't been used a base since, but is now a small village. There were old army trucks around rusting, and an old air strip. It was really interesting to go out so far into nowhere and find a village of people sustaining themselves. And there were many trees. It almost felt like a camp or a museum village (think Genesee County Village and Museum), but people were living there. It was their lives. I forgot my camera in the bus.
On our way back toward Popa Falls, we saw this.
No big deal. Just crossing the road.
We got to Popa "Falls" which are rapids on the Kavango. Not super awe inspiring, but nice. The sand was really pleasant! To get to the river, we had to drive down a really small path, really... not so much a road, and then get back out. That was an adventure all on its own. And our driver was getting really pissed because he had to get back to Windhoek that evening. So he started driving a little bit crazily. Slightly terrifying going back up the hill.
We found berries that tasted like raspberries right before they are completely ripe. Just a little bit sour but in a really yummy way! I love that these kids know what is good to eat wherever they go.
On each of the days when the grade was in school, they had study hours in the morning and afternoon and movies at night. One night we watched the Gospel of Luke, and the other night we watched Star Trek (a deviation from the themes of Easter, but whatever).
Sunday we had study in the morning and evening, and in the afternoon, my student council officers and other more religious students planned and pulled off a very nice service, reading scripture of the Easter Story, prayers of thanks and hope and songs of thanks to Jesus. It was really nice to see them embracing their spirituality. Many of the learners I think struggle with the lack of availability of communal prayer here most Sundays.
Monday was a shit-show. At first, it was said that the learners would be in classes like a normal Monday, but then we switched to a Saturday schedule. So I thought I would be able to teach like all day because most teachers weren't going to be there. But then that didn't happen. I did get to a bunch of the classes, which was nice, but man.
Moving into two weeks of exams now. And I'm still going to try and organize the grade 8's to get a performance evening going next weekend. We're going to videotape the scripts, and then have singing and dancing and fun. It is going to be a mess, but I think it should be fun! Next term, we'll start with the visual arts, and using many supplies on their way here from America, thanks to many of you! I'm hoping to get a competition going for getting their artwork hung in the reception here, in Ministry offices, the Dining Hall, the dorms, and maybe even in schools in America! If anyone is interested, let me know.
Life Skills this week was fun--to review for exams, I had the learners write songs, and to get credit, they have to come up to me and sing them. They had a lot of fun with that, though! It was really nice to see them working together, being creative and learning course materials. I'm really excited to be able to work more activities into my classes next term!
To help with most of these questions on Friday and Saturday, at least, the Ministry approved our request for buses, and we toured around the Divundu area. The Grade 8 learners and 5 teachers went out on Friday, and the Grade 11 learners and 5 different teachers went on Saturday. So these two days have something for the learners to do, and an insurance that teachers will be around. Perfect! Problems solved!
And it was a lot of fun! Outside of the afternoon that agriculture students spent at a farm across the river, this was the first time that learners left all term.
I went with the Grade 11s on their tour around.
First, we went to the Mahangu Game Park, which is about 10 km down the road towards Botswana. We saw lots of wildlife! Antelopes, kudu, springbok, water buffalo, one zebra, tons of birds, warthogs and moneys!
The kids were very excited, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see a lion. The grade 8s saw two lions. But apparently, it's very rare there. The woman we spoke to at the park said she has only seen a lion 3 times in her 14 years working there!
Next on our stop was the Botswana border! We briefly left Namibia, and crossed in Bots for a few minutes, to speak to the customs officials and take lots of pictures at the border. These kids LOVE getting their pictures taken!
The last stop before lunch was a beautiful youth center near the Andara Hospital. It has a training facility for Information, Communication Technologies jobs, and it right on the river. Junior was getting clingy and starting to get tired, but he hid it well!
We went back to school for lunch, then it was back on the road. We traveled to an army base from the time of colonization (1980s) which hasn't been used a base since, but is now a small village. There were old army trucks around rusting, and an old air strip. It was really interesting to go out so far into nowhere and find a village of people sustaining themselves. And there were many trees. It almost felt like a camp or a museum village (think Genesee County Village and Museum), but people were living there. It was their lives. I forgot my camera in the bus.
On our way back toward Popa Falls, we saw this.
We got to Popa "Falls" which are rapids on the Kavango. Not super awe inspiring, but nice. The sand was really pleasant! To get to the river, we had to drive down a really small path, really... not so much a road, and then get back out. That was an adventure all on its own. And our driver was getting really pissed because he had to get back to Windhoek that evening. So he started driving a little bit crazily. Slightly terrifying going back up the hill.
On each of the days when the grade was in school, they had study hours in the morning and afternoon and movies at night. One night we watched the Gospel of Luke, and the other night we watched Star Trek (a deviation from the themes of Easter, but whatever).
Sunday we had study in the morning and evening, and in the afternoon, my student council officers and other more religious students planned and pulled off a very nice service, reading scripture of the Easter Story, prayers of thanks and hope and songs of thanks to Jesus. It was really nice to see them embracing their spirituality. Many of the learners I think struggle with the lack of availability of communal prayer here most Sundays.
Monday was a shit-show. At first, it was said that the learners would be in classes like a normal Monday, but then we switched to a Saturday schedule. So I thought I would be able to teach like all day because most teachers weren't going to be there. But then that didn't happen. I did get to a bunch of the classes, which was nice, but man.
Moving into two weeks of exams now. And I'm still going to try and organize the grade 8's to get a performance evening going next weekend. We're going to videotape the scripts, and then have singing and dancing and fun. It is going to be a mess, but I think it should be fun! Next term, we'll start with the visual arts, and using many supplies on their way here from America, thanks to many of you! I'm hoping to get a competition going for getting their artwork hung in the reception here, in Ministry offices, the Dining Hall, the dorms, and maybe even in schools in America! If anyone is interested, let me know.
Life Skills this week was fun--to review for exams, I had the learners write songs, and to get credit, they have to come up to me and sing them. They had a lot of fun with that, though! It was really nice to see them working together, being creative and learning course materials. I'm really excited to be able to work more activities into my classes next term!
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